This study builds on earlier work showing that adult emotional competencies (EC) could be improved through a relatively brief training. In a set of 2 controlled experimental studies, the authors ... [more ▼]

This study builds on earlier work showing that adult emotional competencies (EC) could be improved through a relatively brief training. In a set of 2 controlled experimental studies, the authors investigated whether developing EC could lead to improved emotional functioning; long-term personality changes; and important positive implications for physical, psychological, social, and work adjustment. Results of Study 1 showed that 18 hr of training with e-mail follow-up was sufficient to significantly improve emotion regulation, emotion understanding, and overall EC. These changes led in turn to long-term significant increases in extraversion and agreeableness as well as a decrease in neuroticism. Results of Study 2 showed that the development of EC brought about positive changes in psychological well-being, subjective health, quality of social relationships, and employability. The effect sizes were sufficiently large for the changes to be considered as meaningful in people's lives. [less ▲]

The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is increasingly recognized as a potential biological marker of psychological and physical health status. Yet, the CAR literature is replete with contradictory results: both supposedly protective and vulnerability psychosocial factors have been associated with both increased and decreased CAR. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the CAR flexibility would be a better indicator of psychological status than CAR magnitude. Forty-two men measures of happiness, perceived stress and neuroticism, and took saliva samples immediately on awakening, then at 15, 30, 45 and 60 min post-awakening on three study days (i.e., Sunday, Monday and Tuesday). When considering the CAR magnitude, our effects perfectly reflect the inconsistencies previously observed in the literature (i.e., the main effects of the psychological predictors are not consistent with each other, and the effect of one predictor on a given day contradicts the effect of the same predictor on another day). However, considering the CAR flexibility leads to a fully consistent pattern: protective factors (i.e., high happiness, low stress, low neurotiscim) are associated with a flexible CAR (i.e., lower CAR during weekends compared to workdays) whereas vulnerability factors (i.e., low happiness, high stress, high neurotiscim) are associated with a stiff CAR (i.e., same magnitude during weekends and workdays). We conclude that considering the CAR flexibility (e.g., between weekends and workdays) rather than the traditional CAR magnitude might be a way to understand the apparent conflicts in the CAR literature. [less ▲]

The present study provides the first evidence that money impairs people’s ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower ... [more ▼]

The present study provides the first evidence that money impairs people’s ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability. Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on savoring undermined the positive effects of money on happiness. Supporting the causal influence of money on savoring, experimentally exposing participants to a reminder of wealth produced the same deleterious effect on savoring as did actual individual differences in wealth. Finally, moving beyond self-report, participants exposed to a reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a piece of chocolate and exhibited reduced enjoyment of it. The present research supplies evidence for the previously untested notion that having access to the best things in life may actually undercut the ability to reap enjoyment from life’s small pleasures. [less ▲]

The construct of emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the individual differences in the perception, processing, regulation, and utilization of emotional information. As these differences have been shown ... [more ▼]

The construct of emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the individual differences in the perception, processing, regulation, and utilization of emotional information. As these differences have been shown to have a significant impact on important life outcomes (e.g., mental and physical health, work performance and social relationships), this study investigated, using a controlled experimental design, whether it is possible to increase El. Participants of the experimental group received a brief empirically-derived El training (four group training sessions of two hours and a half) while control participants continued to live normally. Results showed a significant increase in emotion identification and emotion management abilities in the training group. Follow-up measures after 6 months revealed that these changes were persistent. No significant change was observed in the control group. These findings suggest that El can be improved and open new treatment avenues. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Claims about the positive influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on work team performance are very numerous, both in commercial and scientific literature. However, despite the huge interest that media ... [more ▼]

Claims about the positive influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on work team performance are very numerous, both in commercial and scientific literature. However, despite the huge interest that media and business consultants put in EI and its fast-growing use in organizations, there is very little empirical evidence to support these claims. In this study, we investigated the relationships between EI, performance, and cohesiveness in 23 nursing teams. EI was assessed using the modified version of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale and cohesiveness with the Group Cohesiveness Scale. Finally, nursing team performance was measured at four different levels: job satisfaction, chief nursing executives' rating, turnover rate, and health care quality. Results showed that health care quality was positively correlated with emotion regulation. Emotion regulation was also positively correlated with group cohesiveness. Surprisingly, it also appears that emotion appraisal was negatively correlated with the health care quality provided by teams. These results suggest that EI and, more specifically, Emotional Regulation may provide an interesting new way of enhancing nursing teams' cohesion and patient/client outcomes. [less ▲]

The construct of trait emotional intelligence [trait El] encompasses individual dispositions related to the perception, processing, regulation, and utilization of emotional information. These emotion-related dispositions are located at the lower levels of personality hierarchies. Prior studies found that trait El promoted the utilization of adaptive coping strategies to regulate stress. The present study examined (1) whether this effect would extend to other emotions and (2) whether the coping styles used to regulate a given emotion would mediate the effect of trait El on the propensity to experience that particular emotion. Analyses revealed that trait El promoted the choice of adaptive strategies not only in the case of stress, but also anger, sadness, fear, jealousy, and shame. Trait El also promoted the use of adaptive strategies to maintain joy. We also found that high trait El individuals' choice of adaptive strategies to down-regulate various negative emotions and maintain positive ones explained their decreased propensity to experience these negative emotions and their increased propensity to experience positive ones. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Recent research on autonoetic consciousness indicates that the ability to remember the past and the ability to project oneself into the future are closely related. The purpose of the present study was to ... [more ▼]

Recent research on autonoetic consciousness indicates that the ability to remember the past and the ability to project oneself into the future are closely related. The purpose of the present study was to confirm this proposition by examining whether the relationship observed between personality and episodic memory could be extended to episodic future thinking and, more generally, to investigate the influence of personality traits on self-information processing in the past and in the future. Results show that Neuroticism and Harm Avoidance predict more negative past memories and future projections. Other personality dimensions exhibit a more limited influence on mental time travel (MTT). Therefore, our study provide an additional evidence to the idea that MTT into the past and into the future rely on a common set of processes by which past experiences are used to envision the future. [less ▲]